Famous Fridays 2: Bloggin' it up

The term "social media" bothers me. Because all media is social, so either they could just call it media, or even better, they should just call it being social. because it's really just sharing about yourself, or things you find interesting. Technology has always increased our ability to share. Think about the telegraph, the telephone, the television; all of them are forms of "social media". Media is the plural of medium, which is simply a way to communicate. 

Last week the kick-off of Famous Friday was focused on twitter, because, well, the most famous people I've connected with has been through tweets. Twitter isn't really the core of my sharing, which of course is here on the blog. Because of that sharing, I've gotten a boatload of sponsors (ok, a boatload for my level of skill), and while I'm not an expert on triathlon by any means, I've even taken on an apprentice who I'm helping get started in triathlons. I wouldn't presume to call myself a coach by any means, I'm merely giving him the benefits side-effects of my experience.

Most people think that sponsorships are all about what you can get someone to give you. Sure, it's about that trade off of product or money for what amounts to free advertising, but it doesn't really work if all you're doing is talking about something you got free. People can see through that. You have to be smart enough to ask for or accept things you really want, and give honest reviews to each product even if you risk losing the sponsor. 

For example, take my review of the H2OAudio Capture case and headphones. I bought the case at a heavily discounted price via a sponsorship from the company. I got it specifically for the purpose of using it for swim training, but unfortunately it's not really designed for that. It's still a great product for its designed purpose, and the earphones really do live up to their waterproof statements. While my review wasn't a raving, "go buy this product right now" kind of review, it was an honest one which my rep at H2OAudio appreciated. So when they recently announced their new Flex all-sport earbuds, they wanted to see if I'd like to take a look at them, which I quickly agreed to. 

I hadn't been running with music for a while in order to get used to race conditions, but now that I'll be training for a marathon distance, I need the music for all the extra running. When I got done with my run the other night using my H20Audio Surge earbuds, I was thankful I had waterproof headphones. I had... how do you say... perspired heavily.... during my run, and my phone and earbuds had both taken a bit of collateral damage. 

Flash forward to earlier this week when the Chubsmas Challenge became the XTERRA Chubsmas Challenge. Finding a simple picture of me in their wetsuit prompted XTERRA to send us some mesh backpacks. I would have thought seeing me in their product would have prompted them to lose their lunch, but hey, any press is good press I guess. 

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm patting myself on the back. I do that all the time, but I'm not posting  to sound self congratulatory. There are people who have gotten much more recognition out of their blogs, and do so with a lot less talking about it. Mandy, a reader here and fine writer in her own right, just got accepted to Team Trakkers, with whom she will kick much ass this season.

My point was blogging can make you famous. Even if it's the Perez Hilton kind of famous.